Vicon Lock Studio rear panel

The following illustration shows the Lock Studio rear panel connectors.

In Vicon Vantage documentation, the terms socket and plug are used for female and male connectors respectively.

For additional details of the connectors, see the Lock Studio Quick Start Guide that is supplied with Lock Studio and is available for download. 

Lock Studio rear panel connectors

For information on all interfacing cables, see Vicon Vantage system cables. 

PoE Gigabit connector

The Gigabit Ethernet Port 8-pin RJ-45 socket connects to an appropriate Vicon-supplied PoE (Power over Ethernet) or PoE+ switch that is also connected to Vicon Vantage/Vero cameras and the Vicon Host PC directly, or through further switches. See Example Vicon Vantage systems.

As well as carrying all the communications to the appropriate Vicon software, the Lock Studio also receives its power over the same connections. Additionally, this port also transmits synchronization and time-stamping through special Ethernet packets to all other connected Vicon peripherals.

Earthing point

Dedicated earthing point . Ensure this is used to ground the Lock Studio.

SDI (Serial Digital Interface) input

Fixed 75 Ω (ohm) terminated BNC input for connecting to Standard Definition (SD), High Definition (HD) and 3G SDI broadcast digital video signals.

Used to genlock to external video broadcast signals and to extract embedded timecode data. Lock Studio can be phased with respect to the selected input broadcast signal in increments of 37 nS through a whole frame period. See also Vicon Lock genlock support information.

Remote start/stop connectors

To trigger capture by the Vicon Vantage system from a remote control device, you must configure your Vicon Vantage software to use the device connected to the Remote Start and Stop sockets; for details on doing this, see the documentation for your Vicon software. For details on enabling third-party remote devices to trigger your Vicon system, see Add remote triggering devices to a Vantage system.

• Remote start This RCA socket provides the external input for the start of capture, which can be activated by momentarily connecting this input to ground through either a mechanical or electronic switch. Capture is started on the first frame boundary after this event is detected.
• Remote stop This RCA socket provides the external input for stopping capture, which can be activated by momentarily connecting this input to ground through either a mechanical or electronic switch. Capture is stopped on the first frame boundary after this event is detected.

Genlock and timecode connectors

For details on using external Genlock and Timecode devices to synchronize your Vicon Vantage system to an external video system, see Add genlock/timecode devices to a Vantage system.

• Ref Loop (Composite Video) Two BNC sockets provide loop-through connection to an external composite video signal, which may carry VITC (Vertical Interval Timecode), thus allowing genlocking. This video source is usually referred to as the house reference or the master video source. This connection allows Lock to synchronize to analog SD (standard definition) bi-level and analog HD (high definition) tri-sync video sources. Note that VITC is only supported by the former.

  
  

  Important
  If the Vicon Lock Studio is the only device, or the last device in the chain, the Ref Loop connection that is not being used for signal output must be terminated using a 75 Ω (ohm) terminator.

• LTC In The XLR socket provides the balanced input for LTC (Longitudinal Time Code) to the Lock.
  The timecode is only valid when it is correctly frame-aligned to the accompanying analog SD or HD composite video signal.

• VESA Stereo In The 3-way, mini-DIN socket provides the input to the VESA Stereo In signal. When selected as the genlock source by the appropriate Vicon software, the Lock unit locks to this signal.
• LTC Out The BNC socket enables output of a single-ended LTC signal (23.98, 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 fps) through a 100 Ω (ohm) resistor.
  The timecode is only valid when it is correctly frame-aligned to the accompanying analog SD or HD composite video signal.
• VESA Stereo Out The BNC socket provides a TTL 50:50 duty cycle signal that allows external video systems to lock to the Vicon Vantage system.
  
  For details on using external VESA Stereo signal to synchronize your Vicon Vantage system to an external video system, see Add VESA stereo to a Vantage system.

Link Input/Output (IO) connectors

Vicon System Connector - Link The Link socket provides a dedicated output signal to synchronize MX T-Series–Giganet systems to a Lock Studio. Alternatively, as well as being able to be made an output it can also be made to be an input under software control. Configured this way, it then enables another Lock unit to be connected to it, thus creating further functionality:

• When connecting to an MX T-Series–Giganet system, the appropriate Vicon software will make the Lock Studio the master for the combined system. Any legacy reference video input signal should be transferred to the Lock unit. The master sends the Vicon Ethernet sync and timestamp packet once per frame to all Vicon peripherals attached to that network.
• When expanding a Lock system with a further Lock unit, the Lock with a reference video signal or VESA input signal will be made the sync master by the appropriate Vicon software. In this case the software will control which unit is master and which one is secondary. The secondary unit does not transmit the Vicon Ethernet sync and timestamp packet when acting in this mode.

Sync output connectors

Eight RCA sockets provide sync outputs to external third-party devices for synchronizing to the Vicon Vantage system.

Each sync output consists of a configurable TTL-type drive signal which is set up through the appropriate Vicon application software. Each output can be configured individually.

There are two signal types, one for repetitive signals and one for the duration of capture. A typical signal configuration for a repetitive signal allows for a signal at frame rate or multiples and sub-multiples of the Vantage system capture frame rate to be set up. A duration event allows the signal to be active during the capture period. Both signal type setups allow for a delay of up to one frame to be programmed and the setting of the polarity of the signal. The mark space ratio can be set with the former type. For more information, see Add synchronized output devices to a Vantage system.